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While serving as interim president for the University of Maine this spring, Robert Kennedy traveled to Florida on a fundraising mission. What he didn’t know going into the trip is he would experience something that would convince him the permanent presidency was the right job for him.
After meeting a 1968 alumnus who provides a scholarship, Kennedy began to talk with him about what UMaine meant to his career. The man immediately began to cry when he thought about it.
“It really broke him up,” Kennedy said. “Those experiences have had a profound impact on me. It’s just so striking what the university has done, is doing and will do for the people on an individual basis. To think that I will have a big role in helping to move this institution into the future is just awesome.”
In 2000, Kennedy left an administrative position at Texas A&M for UMaine. He was originally hired as vice president for academic affairs and provost but was promoted to executive vice president and provost, just a year later. After serving as interim since August, he was named president April 15. Kennedy graduated with a degree in biochemistry from University of Minnesota in 1968 and earned a doctorate from the University of California-Berkeley in 1974. But even after attending and working at six of the top 25 universities in the country, he said UMaine offers promise unlike any other.
“There’s none that is more dear to my heart than UMaine,” he said. “I’m just delighted to have this opportunity.”
Kennedy’s own formal academic career was interrupted when war broke out in Vietnam. While attending Berkeley, he was drafted into the Army. He landed at a lab in Denver where he spent two years researching vitamin A and human nutrition. Despite initially looking at military service as something he normally wouldn’t choose to do, it proved to be a career-changing event.
Kennedy returned to California with renewed focus. But because Berkeley was a hotbed for protests during the Vietnam War Era, he kidded that going to school can be more dangerous than working in the Army.
“I was exposed to more tear gas on the Berkeley campus than I ever got in basic training or my time in the army,” he said.
When he was named interim president in August, Kennedy was undecided whether he wanted the permanent position. Rather than just keeping the chair warm, however, he delved in.
As provost in 2001, Kennedy drafted a strategic plan for UMaine, and he continued to execute it as interim president. His road map for success ushered a 23 percent increase in the number of doctoral students. In addition, his new position offered new opportunities to interact with students. Upon arrival from Texas, Kennedy thought he would have more of a chance to work directly with students. Though he didn’t achieve that initially, the situation changed.
“The one-on-one relationships I established with students as interim are what helped convince me to pursue the presidency,” he said. “I had far more interaction with the students, and I loved it.”
If he wasn’t awarded the presidency, Kennedy would have returned to his previous position as provost. But that wasn’t the case.
As president, Kennedy looks forward to developing long-term academic aspirations and plans to work diligently to enhance the national prominence of UMaine, a key component of the University of Maine System restructuring plan as well. He said while that’s a goal worth pursuing, he will need to focus first on the state itself.
“UMaine is more recognized around the country than it is by the people of Maine,” he said. “In Maine, we tend to take things for granted and to be a little self-effacing, but this is an incredibly good institution.”
Kennedy cited efforts to recruit more southern Maine students as the first step in remedying that problem. In the past three years, UMaine has witnessed an upsurge of 20 percent in students from Cumberland and York Counties alone.
Also aligned with the UMS plan are initiatives to recognize the primacy of this institution in statewide education by boosting the University’s flagship status. Kennedy said it makes sense for states with large populations like Texas to maintain two flagships.
“In Maine, we can’t afford that kind of duplication,” said Kennedy. “We have a role to help other institutions in the system. The flagship has to be the leader.”
Kennedy said he wants to work hard enough to distinguish his own tenure from those who have held the post in the past, but at the same time, was grateful to former president Peter Hoff for bringing him to UMaine.
“He provided me opportunities that were unusual and helpful in my career development. Considering distinguished past presidents, it’s a daunting challenge,” he said. “I think we’re at a juncture in the university’s history. ”
Another aspect of education that is changing is funding from federal and state government. In order to increase UMaine’s national prestige, focus on fundraising from private sources is a must, according to Kennedy.
The pending federal budget proposes a reduction in funding to land grant universities. It would eliminate subsidies for UMaine’s agricultural experiment station and cooperative extension, programs that serve as the school’s basis, Kennedy said.
“You can look at that as something negative to our future or as a challenge,” he said. “There have been these kind of proposals before, and I’m cautiously optimistic that funding will continue.”
In the meantime, Kennedy said competing universities have futures that pale in comparison to UMaine. The faculty’s ability to compete nationally and in many cases, internationally, set UMaine apart. Its relationships with students are also unique.
“I’ve talked to students from Ivy League colleges who don’t know their professors well enough to ask for a letter of recommendation,” said Kennedy. “That doesn’t happen at UMaine. Our faculty are genuine and sincere in their care for the students.”
Dean of Students Robert Dana said Kennedy was the right choice in the eyes of the students. His attendance at many student functions and creation of a student-centered agenda indicate that he stands for the people of UMaine.
“He wants to be with students. He wants to know about students. He’s very in the loop,” said Dana. “He’s also a lovely human being and a great president. I’m just thrilled.”
Student Government President Kate O’Brien agreed.
“He is not only very approachable and amicable,” said O’Brien, “but he has also made himself very visable on this campus, which is something we didn’t see with the last president.
Kennedy hopes he is well-liked by the student body. He joked that one reason they should like him is the fact that he rewarded students with two snow days this year.
“It almost seemed my popularity peaked after each time I dismissed school,” he said. “I thought we had some this year when it really was important to cancel, and it was a responsibility I took seriously.”
He thinks a new recreational center will prove to boost the social atmosphere of student life as well as contribute to nationwide recruiting efforts. Groundbreaking for the facility will be held this week, and the project is set to be completed in 18 months.
“Like the student union, I think it’s going to have a transformational impact on this campus,” he said. “It’s gonna be huge.”
This summer, Kennedy and his wife Mary, a biochemistry professor at UMaine, will move into the president’s house on campus. Together, he said they are enjoying Maine and say it’s very similar to their home state of Minnesota, only much prettier. And as a person who avoids looking too far into the future when it comes to his personal life, Kennedy said he plans to continue to delight in the Maine experience.
“I’ve got a lot of energy,” he said. “It’s a great institution. I just foresee working here for quite a long period of time.”
Bangor Daily News